Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-05-09

of the chain, because they have never
tried to break it. II is very easy to 90 on
down with the stream and with the wind,
lying on your oars; but Just turn around,
and try to 20 against the wind and tide,
and you will find it is different matter.
As long as we 20 down the current OF our
evil habit we seem to get along quite
smoothly; but if after awhile we turn
around and head the other way, toward
Christ, and pardon, and heaven, oh, then
how we have to lay TO the oars! Gou all
have your temptation. You have one
kind, you another, You another, notS one
person escaping.
1t is all folly for you to say to some one:
81 COULD NOT BE TEMPTED As YOU ARE. y
The lion thinks it so strange that the fish
should be caught with hook. The fish
thinks it so strange that the lion should he
caught with a trap. You see some man
with a cold, phlegmatic temperament, and
you Say: II suppose that man has not
any temptation" Yes, rs much as you
have. In his phlegmatic nature he has a
temptation to Incidence and consciousness
and over-eating and drinking; a tempta-
ton to ignore the great work of life; a
temptation to lay down an obstacle in the
way of all good enterprises. The temper
ament decides the style of temptation; but
saguine or lymphatlc, you will have temp
tatiOn. Satan has grappling hook Just
fitted for your soul. A man never lives
beyond the reach of temptation. You say
when a man gets TO be seventy or eighty
wears of age he is safe from all Satanic as
sault. You are very much mistaken. A
man at eighty-fve years of age has rs many
temptations as man at twenty-five. They
are only different styles of temptation. =
Ask the aged Christian whether he is new
er assaulted of the powers of darkness. II
YOU think you have conquered the power
of temptation, you are very much mlstak-
en-.
A man who wanted a throne pretended
he was very weak and sickly, and if he
was elevated he would soon he gone. He
crawled upon his crutches to the throne,
and having attained it he was strong again.
tie said: Mt was well for me while | was
looking for the sceptre Of another that
should stOOp, but now that | have found
it why should stOOp any longer" and he
threw away his crutches and was well
again. How illustrative OF the
POWER OF TEMPTATION!
You think it is a weak and crippled intlu-
ence; but give it chance, and it will he a
tyrant in your soul; il will grind you to
atoms. No man has finally and forever
overcome temptation until he has left the
world. But what are you t0 do with these
temptations? Tell everybody about them?
Ah what silly man you would be! As
well might commander in "a fort send
word to the enemy which gate of the cas-
tie is least barred, ~ for you tO 60 and tell
what all your trailtieS are, and what your
temptations are. The world will only car
feature you, will only SCOT at you. What
then must a man do? When the wave
strikes him with terrific dash shall he have
nothing TO hold on to? in this contest
with "the world, the flesh and the devil, !"
shall man have no help, no counsel?
Our text intimates something different
In those eyes that wcpt with the Bethany
sisters | see shining hope. In that voice
which spake until the grave broke and the
widow of Main had back her lost son, and
the sea slept, and sorrow stupendous woke
up in the arms Of rapture-in that voice |
hear the command and the promise: Cast
thy burden on the Lord, and Hewill suS-
tain thee" Why should you carry your
burdens any longer? Oh, you weary soul,
Christ has been in this conflict He says:
"My grace shall be sufficient for you.
You shall not he tempted about that you
are able to bear" Therefore. with all
your temptations, 80, "a these disciples
did, and tell Jesus.
Again: | commend the behavior OF the
disciples to all those who are
ABUSED AND SLANnERED
and prosecuted. When lIerod put John
to death, the disciples knew that their
heads were not safe. And do you know
that every John has lIcrod? There are
persons in life who do not wish you very
well. Your misfortunes are honeycombs
to them. Through their teeth they hiss at
you, misnterpret your motives, and would
be glad to sec You upset. No man gets
through life without having pummelling.
Some slauderer comes after you, horned
and husked and hOOled, to gore and tram
pie you; and what are you to do? | tell
you plainly that all who serve Christ must
suffer persecution. IT is the worst sign in
the world for you TO he able to say: 81
haven't an enemy in the world \ woe
is pronounced in the Bible against the one
of whom everybody speaks well. If you
are at peace with all the world, and every
body likes you and approves your work,
it is because you are an idler in the Lord 8
vineyard, and are not doing your duty.
All those who have served Christ, how
ever eminent, have been maltreated at
some stage of their experience. You know
it was so in the time of George Whiteteld,
when he stood and invited men into the
kingdom of God. What did the learned
Doctor Johnson say of him? He pronounced
him miserable mountcbank. How was
it when Robert Hall stood and spoke as
scarcely any uninspired man ever did speak
of the glories of heaven? and rs he
stood Sabbath after Sabbath preaching
on these themes his face kindled
with the glory. John Foster, a Christian
man, said of this man: Robert Hall is
only acting, and the smile on his face is a
reflection of his own vanity" John WcS-
ley turned all England upside down with
Christian reform, and yet the punsters were
after him, and the meanest jokes in Eng.
land were perpetrated about John Wesley.
What is true of the pulpit is true of the
pew; it is true of the street, it is true of
the shop, and the store. All who will live
godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecu-
tiOn.
And ] set it down as the very worst sign
in all your Christian experience if you are,
any of You at peace with all the world.
The
RELIGION OF CHRIST Is WAR.
1t is a challenge to ''the world, the flesh
and the DEVIL" and if you will buckle on
the whole armOr of God, you will ind a
great host disputing your path between
this and heaven. But what are You to do
when yOu are assaulted and slandered and
abused, aS suppose nearly all of you have
been in your life? Go ont and hunt up
the slanderer? O, no, silly man, While
you are explaining away falsehoOd in one
place, fifty people will Just have heard OF
it in other places.
counsel you to another course. While
yOu are not to omit any opportunity OF
setting ynurSelves riVht want IN tell Won